Modern building construction techniques have increasingly focused upon the use of a basic strength providing building frame, on the outside of which are mounted covering building wall panels. The reason that this approach to modern building construction has grown in use is based in economics. That being the case, a system and method of its use which provides construction personnel a quicker, easier and less costly way to mount building wall panels to building frames would be desirable. In particular, a problem faced by construction personnel when mounting building wall panels to building frames is a difficulty in aligning mounting means elements secured to a building wall panel with mounting means elements on a building frame. Often times when a multiplicity of such mounting means elements are present they simply do not all align. Construction personnel must then spend time to relocate and/or adjust the location of the mounting means elements on the building frame etc. An invention which would facilitate the ability of construction personnel to easily adjust the location of the mounting means elements secured to building wall panels so that they align with the mounting means elements attached to building frames would then provide economic and construction convenience benefits. An invention which, to some extent, demonstrates such a capability is taught in a patent to Paton, U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,333. In Paton there is taught a system of inserts which are cast into building wall panels. Tongue elements mount into certain of the inserts by way of slots in the tongue elements, in a way that allows the tongue elements to move along the length of the inserts. Attached to the tongue element distal to the insert body is a clamp. The clamp serves to attach to a building frame. The inserts are taught as being cast into building wall panels so that the tongue motion is allowed vertically, as a building wall panel is viewed in elevation when it is mounted to a building frame. It will be appreciated that construction personnel can then easily adjust the vertical alignment of the mounting means elements in the building wall panel to match with the vertical location of the complementary mounting means elements on the building frame during the construction process. The Paton Patent, however, teaches against provision of a second degree of motion freedom, (e.g. horizontal), between the mounting means elements in the building wall panel and those on a building frame. The reason given is that the building wall panels used with the system are structurally reinforced and are meant to provide a restraining force against roof diaphragm horizontal shearing forces during seismic or other (e.g. wind), activity. Were the panels mounted in a way that allowed relative horizontal motion between the mounting means elements in the building wall panels, and the mounting means elements on the building frame, said benefit would be lost. While the teachings of Paton are of interest, they fail to recognize that many present day building wall panels are not constructed to provide strength enhancing structural capacity, but rather they serve aesthetic purposes. Some such building wall panels may incorporate brittle materials such as window glass, or thin granite and marble. If a roof diaphragm shear force is applied to such a panel, the result is, simply, that the building wall panel will develop unacceptable visually perceptible, strength reducing cracks. In many applications, not only would the presence of a capacity for horizontal motion between the mounting means elements in building wall panels and those on a building frame not be a detriment, it would be of great benefit. Said benefit would avail and accrue to construction personnel by allowing easy, quick economical alignment between complementary mounting means elements in building wall panels and on building frames, and to building owners who, most importantly, will not experience loss due to building wall panel failure resulting from unreleased stresses in said building wall panels. Such stresses can be generated, not only by seismic activity, but also by building shape changes caused by wind or as a result of temperature related building wall panel expansion. It is noted that the Paton invention allows for release of stresses caused by vertical forces applied to building wall panels, but no such provision is provided for similar stress release in a horizontal direction. It is also of interest to note that many modern Municipal Building Seismic Codes require that architectural building wall panels be capable of allowing for relative horizontal movement between building stories. This capability can not be provided by the use of Paton system, hence, there arises the need for a building wall panel mounting means with two degrees of motion freedom.
The inventor is unaware of any reference which teaches the combination of building wall panels with mounting means elements secured thereto, which provides for two degrees of motion freedom for the mounting means elements. The inventor is aware of patents to Garvin, U.S. Pat. No. 1,594,412 and to Goldsmith et al., U.S. Pat. No. 1,841,887, which teach devices that provide a nut mounted therein with two degrees of motion freedom. Said Patents teach rectangular frames within which are mounted brackets which can slide along the length of the frames. Within the brackets are found nuts which can slide along the length of the bracket, said motion being perpendicular to the direction of motion allowed to the brackets within the frames. The resulting devices are taught as being useful in providing a means for supporting pipes etc. on brick or concrete walls into which they are embedded. Said Patents, however, do not mention or allude to use of such a device in mounting building wall panels to building frames. Also, the design of the devices is such that traction and compression forces applied thereto could cause the frame to break.
Based on the foregoing, it can be concluded that a well designed building wall panel mounting system, and its method of use, which building wall panel mounting system provides for mounting means elements in a building wall panel, which mounting means elements are allowed two degrees of motion freedom, would be beneficial. A need exists for such a building wall panel mounting system and method of its use.